Constellation, << `kon` stuh LAY shuhn, >> a 38-gun frigate launched in 1797 in Baltimore, Maryland, was the first United States Navy ship to capture a foreign warship. It captured the French frigate L’Insurgente on Feb. 9, 1799, during the undeclared war between France and the United States (1798-1800). Thomas Truxtun, who had supervised the construction of the Constellation, commanded the ship. His naval victories made him a national hero.
In the 1850’s, the ship was broken up, and its name was assigned to a newly built 22-gun sloop-of-war, a type of small warship. The Constellation was the last all-sail warship built by the U.S. Navy. In the mid-1900’s, it was put on exhibit in Baltimore. The ship was designated a national historic landmark in 1964.
